Tax assistant Review

For this job I had to work with the tax team for two days, and the assurance (providing independent and professional opinions that reduce risk to a client) team for one day. it involved speaking to a few clients, but mainly working with spreadsheets with my team for 3 other people. We had a project based in a pub chain for the whole three days.

Communication with the client, which I had to do a lot during the day I visited the client base, was the main skill I learnt. I was expected to have some level of computer skills, e.g Excel and Adobe. Although Excel spreadsheets I became relatively proficient at over the three days, the Adobe Digital work was hard to understand, and some went over my head!

I enjoyed the first and last days of my programme, which were held in the main PwC office in London, since this was an opportunity to 'network' with my peers. The middle three days were often fun, but also slightly stressful.

I feel like a very important part of PwC, since we were given demanding but important tasks to do, and also I was given internal recognition by the manager, who mentioned me in a talk.

The programme was well structured, in particular the number and variety of activities that I was tasked with throughout my time at my base office. I wasn't only involved in the computer/spreadsheet work, but also research at the client base.

I found the work with my assurance team slightly stressful, and would have liked some more training before I started work. This was because of the work on different Adobe applications, which I didn't understand very well. However apart from this work, the team supported me well

I feel like there was good support from the nationwide team that ran and oversaw the programme. There was good communication with regards to salary and information on the tasks I would be doing.

My only costs were transport to my base office (Reading), which I had to pay for myself, and to London (which I claimed back). My wage adequately covered this, (£290 after tax for the whole week).

I wasn't involved in many company activities, since I was only at the Insight Week for 3 days at my base office. However at lunchtimes there were a few opportunities our team had with regards to leisure activities.

Yes

It is a great opportunity if you are unsure whether to apply to work in financial services, and it will also give you a chance to apply for PwC's other initiatives, e.g. their sponsored degree.

Find out as much as you can about life at PwC, opportunities for career advancement etc. while you are with your team, since they will be very helpful in deciding whether you want to continue in that career direction.